After Giving Birth, All My Beast Ex-Husbands Suddenly Want Me Back

Chapter 420: Rotten to the core

The moment Tair broke free, he bolted into a side alley, using the rows of houses to mask his tracks.

Nina and her group hot on his heels. Tair twisted and turned through the maze of streets before suddenly ducking into an abandoned house. Nina’s group surrounded the building instantly.

Nina was the first to burst through the door, but the room was completely empty. Tair was gone.

She scanned the dilapidated, barren room, tapping on the stone slabs of the floor and walls. None of them sounded hollow.

A frown creased her brow. How could Tair have vanished into thin air?

Odian did his own sweep of the room and noticed something.

Turning to Nina, he said, "Nina, I think Tair used a teleportation array. Portable arrays like that are incredibly tedious to make and carry an exorbitant price tag. Very few priests actually know how to craft them. I wonder where he got his hands on one?"

"He likely traded quite a few resources using that crystal of his," Nina replied. "It’s not surprising he managed to get one."

Harin let out a heavy sigh. "I can’t believe we let him slip away. Now that he’s gone, it’s going to be nearly impossible to catch him again."

"Not necessarily," Nina countered.

Harin looked up, a spark of hope in his eyes. "Do you have a plan?"

"Who does Tair care about the most?" Nina asked.

Harin’s eyes lit up. "Penny!" Then, he hesitated. "But Penny is innocent. We can’t exactly arrest her, can we?"

"We don’t need to. We just stake out her place. If Tair cares about her as much as it seems, he won’t stay far away. We’ll get another opening." Nina paused briefly before adding, "If that doesn’t work, we can always manufacture an opportunity. In the meantime, keep a close eye on the remaining elders too."

Given how fanatical Tair was about Penny, the odds of flushing him out were high.

"That makes sense," Harin nodded. "Alright, we’ll do it your way."

"Go ahead and publicize the news that Tair is the killer. Get the city’s beastmen to help hunt him down. I’ll be staying near Penny’s house. If your side gets any leads, signal me immediately," Nina instructed.

"We’ll get right on it. Even though we didn’t catch him, at least we unmasked him. We’ll just have to tell everyone to stay vigilant," Harin said politely. "Thank you for your hard work tonight."

"Don’t mention it. Just remember to keep your end of our bargain when this is over," Nina said.

"Absolutely," Harin promised.

Seeing that Tair wouldn’t be caught tonight, Nina and Odian headed back.

Meanwhile, Tair was hiding in a dark, damp cellar. Knowing the city inside out, he had mapped out his escape routes the moment he was captured.

He looked down at the shattered crystal in his hand. Thank goodness he had spent a fortune trading with a priest for this special stone, or he wouldn’t have made it out alive today.

Clutching his heavily bleeding wound, he winced. Though he had escaped, he was badly injured and had been forced to use a forbidden technique. The backlash of the forbidden art meant his strength would plummet, leaving him in a severely weakened state for the foreseeable future.

He quickly pulled out several high-grade beast crystals. He needed to heal as fast as possible; otherwise, he wouldn’t even be able to protect himself, let alone Penny.

Deep in the cellar, Tair quietly began absorbing the energy from the crystals to nurse his body back to health.

While Tair had slipped through the cracks on Nina’s end, the rest of her beast husbands and Ming’s team had a highly successful night, rounding up a large number of rogue beastmen.

Looking at the familiar faces among the captured, Harin could only shake his head.

The Serpent City was rotten to the core.

After thanking Nina and her group, Harin marched the culprits off to the City Lord’s estate to hand them over.

By morning, a tense peace settled over the city.

The news of Tair being the mastermind spread like wildfire. Harin rallied the citizens to assist in the manhunt, exposing the other accomplices alongside him.

The city’s inhabitants were utterly shocked.

"I can’t believe Elder Tair was the mastermind!"

"Me neither. He’s always been such a gentle beastman. This is terrifying."

"I guess we really can’t judge a book by its cover."

"And those other elders too! As our leaders, how could they prey on their own citizens?"

"Exactly! They deserve the death penalty."

"But since Tair is still on the loose, we all need to watch our backs."

"Yeah, let’s keep our eyes peeled for the guard units. Hopefully, they catch him soon."

"Agreed."

...

Indignant and furious, the beastmen of Serpent City eagerly joined the effort to track Tair down.

At the same time, whispers about Nina began to circulate.

"I heard the Lord of the Barbarian City was the one who exposed them all. We really owe her a debt of gratitude."

"Yeah... we shouldn’t have treated her and Idir the way we did."

"Maybe she was right. Maybe Idir isn’t a jinx after all."

"I’m starting to believe her. If Idir really brought bad luck, why would he bring someone as incredible as Lady Nina to save us?"

"My thoughts exactly."

...

Slowly but surely, their deep-seated prejudice against Idir began to thaw.

After a night of recuperation, Tair’s injuries had stabilized slightly. Finding a window of opportunity, he smuggled a message out to Alar, urging him to move Penny to his estate for safety.

The moment Alar received the word, he rushed over to Penny’s house.

Inside, Penny had already heard the rumors about Tair. She was riddled with anxiety, dread, and disbelief.

Could the rumors outside really be true? Was the gentle, attentive Tair truly the monster responsible for the mass murders in the city?

She kept her doors bolted, huddled inside and terrified to step out. Her house was already surrounded. Angry mobs of beastmen were hurling filth at her door, screaming curses and calling Tair a monster.

When Alar arrived, he immediately ordered his subordinates to disperse the crowd before slipping inside.

Seeing her father, Penny rushed forward. "Father, are the rumors true? Is Tair really..."

Alar didn’t want to dwell on the details. "Penny, don’t worry about that right now. It’s not safe for you here alone. Come stay at my estate for a while until the storm blows over."

His evasiveness gave Penny her answer. The rumors were true.

She bit her lip, heartbroken and shaken. "Alright, I’ll come with you." She really was terrified of staying there by herself.

But just as they prepared to leave, a large group of beastmen suddenly swarmed into the courtyard, blocking their path.

From midair, a cold, ruthless voice rang out: "Alar, hand over the female behind you."